Say Apple
by shadowfire125
Summary: Test subject Belle has spent who-knows-how-long asleep in a stasis chamber in the bowels of Aperture Science Laboratories. Then one day, a shy, fumbling android wakes her up and it all goes downhill from there.
1. Prologue

_This story will basically be substituting the Portal characters with OUaT characters. Now, I only intend to do three of the chapters: The Courtesy Call, The Escape, and The Part Where He Kills You. However, if you guys show enough interest, I'll do my best to write the rest of them as well. I'm kinda notorious for not finishing things, so feel free to prod me into continuing. Also feel free to send ideas, corrections, and whatever else you have to say. This will also not be following the Portal 2 storyline to a T (though it'll follow the general outline) because I don't want to just rehash everything that happens, and because they are not the same characters. So now I present to you the work of a person who has officially lost control of her life._

* * *

_Prologue_

Belle felt the warm sun on her face as machinery rained down around her. She wanted to push to her feet and run across the asphalt, run until she couldn't run anymore and Aperture was far, far behind her. But her lungs burned and her muscles screamed, and she felt bruised in places she didn't even know she had. A helpless feeling overtook her as cold metal hands wrapped around her ankles and began to drag her back towards the ruined building. Her vision was going fuzzy and though she raged and pounded against the walls of her mind, her body wouldn't respond.

Everything faded away to black.


	2. The Courtesy Call

_Chapter One_  
_The Courtesy Call_

She woke up in a rather pleasant room. There was a desk and a minifridge against the opposite wall, and a potted plant in the corner. Soft light filtered through the curtains. She sat up, hope flaring in her chest.

A mechanical voice snuffed it out, leading her through a series of idiotic and pointless actions. If nothing else, this confirmed she was still in the hellhole known as Aperture Science Laboratories. She spotted a door at the end of a short hallway and moved towards it, but her eyelids were suddenly growing heavy. Realizing what was happening, she stumbled back to the bed and managed to arrange herself comfortably before she once more faded off into dreamless sleep.

She was woken again by the mechanical voice, but the room was no longer pleasant. The walls were grey and peeling, the plant desiccated. Dust coated every surface. The voice stuttered and failed.

There was a knock at the door and she shot upright, immediately regretting the sudden action when her head spun. She pressed her hands to her temples, willing the vertigo to go away. At another more insistent knock, she slid out of bed and onto shaky legs. She took a deep breath and staggered drunkenly down the hall. When she opened the door she saw a man, hand raised to knock again.

No, not a man. An android, evidenced by the luminescent amber circle on his chest and the faintly detectable whir of machinery emanating from him. Other than that, however, he seemed completely human. He had an angular yet soft face, creased with worry lines. His hair was long and a bit unkempt.

He was also staring at her with astonishment. "Are- are you alright?"

Belle was starting to feel a bit steadier, but could only guess at what the unknown amount of time in stasis had done to her appearance. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, working out the knots, and she was relieved there weren't too many. "I-" she started, then stopped, alarmed when her voice came out whispery and hoarse. She cleared her throat a couple of times and tried again. "I will be, I think," she managed, her voice still croaky but a bit better.

He flashed her a quick, nervous smile. "Good," he said, seemingly unsure of what to do with himself. "Good."

"I'm Belle," she offered, sticking out her hand.

He flinched at the sudden motion towards him, then tentatively accepted her hand. "Rumpelstiltskin." He had a nice voice, his r's rolling pleasantly off his tongue.

"That's quite a mouthful," Belle teased lightly.

He tried to give her another weak excuse for a smile and pulled his hand from her grasp.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, trying to ease the hurt expression he failed at hiding. "Thank you for waking me up."

This time his small smile was more sincere. "You're welcome." He looked down at his feet, then back up. "Actually, about that… well, I was wondering if you could help me."

Belle nodded for him to continue, her face open and encouraging.

Rumpelstiltskin waved a hand at the space behind him. "This place is coming apart. I want to escape, but I can't do it alone, and, well…" He looked away again. "You're the only person still alive. Most of the stasis rooms failed when She fell, and since then the rest have been shutting down one by one. I did my best but I couldn't," he began to falter, "I couldn't stop it, I- I don't have the clearance…" He closed his eyes and took a breath. "For some reason, yours was the only one I was able to access. And I only found you because… because yours was the last one still running."

She let this sink in, feeling a pang of guilt at learning about the unforeseen consequences of defeating REGiNA. Then she asked, "How long have I been here?"

He shrugged, unable to meet her eyes. "I don't know. All the clocks stopped working a long time ago."

Belle swallowed her disappointment. It wasn't as if she had specific memories of her life before Aperture, just vague knowledge of things she couldn't have learned within the facility. But she'd known what to expect of the surface. Now, she had no idea what she'd be walking into.

She shoved that thought aside, mentally repeating the mantra that had powered her through her previous Aperture adventure: _Do the brave thing, and bravery will follow._ "All right," she said, filling to the brim with a familiar determination. "Let's do this."

He stared at her like she'd grown another head, then shook himself, and she stepped back to let him in. When he slid past her, feet not touching the floor, she realized for the first time that he was suspended from a rail in the ceiling by a mechanical arm that was attached to a port in his back. He seemed rather embarrassed dangling in front of her and her new scrutiny, and disappeared up the hatch that had opened in the ceiling as quickly as he could.

"I'm a little rusty at this," he called down to her. "You might want to hang on to something."

She grasped the edge of the desk, and then the room began to shudder around her. Belatedly she realized she hadn't picked a very good handhold as she was thrown backwards, landing rather painfully on her rump. She scrambled for the space between the closet and the bed, leaning back against the closet and bracing her feet on the side of the bed.

The room swayed and jolted sickeningly, and as pieces of the walls crumbled away, she saw that the room was just a box hanging in a chamber that was seemingly endless in all directions. There were countless other boxes like hers, and she desperately hoped that the majority were vacant, because the thought that they had all contained people filled her with despair. The mechanical voice struggled to be heard above the din, and Belle caught something about a reactor core, reserve power, and a meltdown.

Comforting.

They reached a wall that said "Loading Dock" with arrows pointing downwards in faded yellow paint.

Rumpelstiltskin's voice reached her. "I don't think I can get it to go down." There was an awkward pause. "I'm going to, uh… manually override this wall."

Terror seized Belle. "Rumpel, no-"

It was too late. The deteriorating box slammed into the wall once, twice, and broke through on the third try. Only the fact that she was firmly wedged in place prevented her being thrown clear through the new hole.

There was a brief moment where the only sound was her harsh breathing and the clatter of settling rubble. Dust rained down around her.

The hatch in the ceiling opened again, and Rumpelstiltskin was lowered into view. He peered around anxiously for her, relief washing over his face when she emerged from behind the bed. "Sorry about that," he said.

Belle waved the apology off, sneezing when the dust tickled her nose. She made her way over to the opening, and was startled when she recognized the place. It was like the first stasis chamber she'd woken up in before she'd ever started testing, albeit gone to ruin. Plants seemed to have taken over.

"There's a device in there somewhere that we'll need to make it out," said Rumpelstiltskin from behind her. "Do you think you can find it?"

"Probably," Belle replied. She looked up at him. "Aren't you coming?"

He shook his head. "I'd only slow you down. I'll meet you on the other side. You're looking for a kind of gun, only it-"

"The portal gun?" she asked as she pulled her thick curls back into the hair tie that had been around her wrist.

He looked surprised. "How did you…?"

"I've run the gauntlet before," she said grimly. "Don't worry. I'll get it."

Hesitantly, he nodded. "Good luck."

She gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, and leapt once more into the testing track.

Which sounded a lot cooler than what actually happened, which was an unflattering shriek of surprise as the glass gave way beneath her feet and she landed on her ass for the second time in the last ten minutes. Getting back into the swing of being a die-hard test subject was proving trickier than she'd hoped.

"_Hello, and welcome once more to the Aperture Science_ _Enrichment Center_," the voice greeted her. She really hated that voice. It was smug. "_We are experiencing technical difficulties due to circumstances of potentially apocalyptic significance beyond our control_."

Oh, apocalyptic. Great.

"_However, thanks to emergency testing protocols, testing can continue._"

Even better. She let the voice ramble on, waiting until the orange portal opened in front of her. Stepping through, she took stock of her surroundings. This place really was coming apart. The walls were overgrown with vines, the corridor was dark and dank, and water was dripping somewhere.

She strode along the corridor, making her way through basic test chambers that were familiar and alien at the same time, the obnoxious voice following her wherever she went. The elevators were different than she remembered, and each level had screens playing out some scenario, one of them bizarrely involving a giant leopard-print turret wearing a crown. At last she reached a brightly lit room.

"There you are!"

She spun to see Rumpelstiltskin waiting behind a wall that had lost its panels. He looked confused. "The device should be on that stand over there, but…"

Following his gaze, she saw a sparking pedestal that was, indeed, empty. She moved towards it, and hadn't even reached it before the floor gave out under her. _Of course_, she thought as the ground greeted her rear like an old friend. Or perhaps an old enemy.

"Belle!" Rumpelstiltskin shouted after her.

"I'm alright!" she called back, pushing herself to her feet. She brushed off her orange jumpsuit and made sure its sleeves were still securely tied around her waist. Jumping experimentally a couple of times, she reacclimatized herself to the feel of the long-fall boots and resolved to make sure they actually got used.

"Do you see it?" His voice echoed eerily down the dark corridor.

She looked around, spotting a light at the end of the hall and walking towards it. It was another lit room, with a spiraling staircase built out of wall panels leading up to a platform on which the portal gun rested.

"Yeah!" she shouted.

"I'll meet you up ahead then!"

She nodded even though he couldn't see her, and climbed the handmade stairs. At the top, she bent and scooped up the gun. It still fit perfectly over her hand, her finger on the trigger feeling like the most natural thing in the world. The device had been her only friend in a world of sterile walls and death traps. She was a little disappointed to realize that this was the single-portal device, but grateful to have it at all. She'd felt naked without it.

Portal gun in hand, she turned her attention to the room. What she found took her breath away. Paintings decorated the walls around her, some almost like cave paintings – scientists offering up a slice of cake to a looming silhouette, figures in agony, an angelic companion cube being held aloft. But the crown jewel of the gallery was a large painting of Belle herself asleep, and she felt her heart clench at the care and hope that had gone into each brushstroke, like she was a ray of light for a man slowly losing his grip on sanity. Somehow she knew that this was the same man who had left messages in secret bolt-holes around the facility, whose stored rations had saved her from hunger and thirst once she left the testing track.

She wished she could meet him, thank him.

Wiping away the tears pricking at her eyes, she turned and resumed her journey, feeling reinvigorated.

Her path took her through an abandoned observation room and back to the testing track, where, annoyingly, the voice rejoined her. She worked through the tests as quickly as she could while it rambled on about androids and the laws of robotics. She'd forgotten how many ways Aperture could be so weird. Only they would think of smooth jazz as something to be deployed.

With every new test chamber, she found herself shocked at how much of this place was truly in shambles. Debris littered every floor and clogged the elevator shafts. Doors sparked and would only half open. She shook her head. How the mighty have fallen.

At last she reached a chamber that required falling, and she gave her boots a couple more experimental jumps. She snorted with laughter when the voice said, "_If the laws of physics no longer apply in the future, God help you_."

She opened the blue portal and peered through at the drop on the other side. The drowsiness she'd felt after coming out of stasis had completely worn off now, and her mind felt sharp as ever. Now it was time to find out if her reflexes were, too. She leapt through, landing solidly on her feet. The real test came next. She placed a portal at the bottom of a pit and jumped off the ledge. The world tilted around her and she was flying across the room, a familiar thrill coursing through her. She grinned triumphantly when she stuck the landing.

Oh, yeah. She was back in business.

She blasted her way through this chamber and the next with renewed confidence. Flying had been and still was her favorite part of testing.

She emerged into a chamber that was only a shadow of its former self. Shifting her grip on the portal, she examined the room, trying to figure out her next step.

"Oh!" said Rumpelstiltskin, and she looked up. He was hanging over a collapsed wall off to her left. "I'm glad you made it, I was beginning to worry."

She grinned up at him. "Don't worry, I'm an old pro at this."

He sort of smiled back, but she was beginning to notice that smiling didn't seem like something he was very familiar with. "Hop over here, dearie," he said. "I've got a route for us."

She noticed the chamber's orange portal device was still working, so she popped a portal over on the other side of the collapsed wall and stepped through.

Rumpelstiltskin was rubbing his hands together nervously, eyeing the floor. "How far down d'ya think it is?"

She arched an eyebrow up at him. "No more than ten feet. Why?"

"Well," he replied, face lined with apprehension. "I'm going to disengage from the rail. No, it seems a lot farther than ten feet, that can't possibly be right." He slid back on the rail, stopped when he realized he was just going higher, and slid forward again. "This is way too high, maybe you could stack some rubble or-"

He seemed ready to work himself into a full-on anxiety attack. Belle cut him off. "Rumpelstiltskin," she said firmly. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, he dragged his gaze up to her face, though he wouldn't quite meet her eyes.

"I believe in you," she said. "And I promise you'll be safe."

His eyes went wide in surprise, and he searched her face for any trace of insincerity or deception. When he didn't find either, he closed his eyes, exhaled, and disengaged. He crumpled to the floor, and Belle was at his side in an instant, helping him back to him feet.

"See?" she said with a sly grin, brushing off the front of his grey jumpsuit. "Was that so bad?"

He was looking at her like he couldn't believe she existed. Wordlessly, he shook his head, eyes never leaving her face.

"So," she said after an awkward stretch of silence, "you said you had a plan?"

He snapped himself out of whatever daze he was in. "Ah, yes." He pulled away from her and went over to the wall, where a panel slid back and revealed what looked to be a large plug of some kind. Rumpelstiltskin turned around and let it slot into the port in his back. There was a click and a hum, and a larger panel slid open, revealing yet another corridor beyond. He unplugged himself and gave a sweeping bow. "A secret passage, milady."

She giggled and feigned a curtsey, wondering where that sudden display of confidence had come from. He seemed to be wondering the same thing as he followed her onto the catwalk beyond the panel.

The catwalk made a few twists and turns, leading them past a tube with a flickering turret (Rumpelstiltskin had held up his hand to hide his face and muttered, "Don't make eye contact," when it tried to greet them) and into another dark corridor. Belle was getting tired of dark corridors.

They turned a corner to see a long glass hall, and here Rumpelstiltskin suddenly dug in his heels and grabbed Belle's wrist. "What?" she asked, turning to face him.

He was shaking. "To get where we need to go, we have to go through _Her_ chamber."

"Fine," said Belle. "Let's go."

Rumpel didn't let go. "But what if She's still awake?"

"Would the facility be in such bad shape if She was?"

"I guess not," he admitted reluctantly, but still showed no signs of moving forward.

Though unsure of what kind of reaction he would have to the gesture, she placed her hand on the side of his face. "We made it this far, Rumpel," she said with a reassuring smile. "It's only a little further, right?"

He seemed stunned at her touch, then leaned in just a little, so slightly she almost couldn't tell, and nodded. "Just a little," he breathed.

"Alright, then," she said, gently pulling her wrist from his grasp and taking his wrist in her hand instead. She tugged him lightly down the hall, and he trailed after her like a lost puppy. It was only when they reached the door at the end that he froze up again. "Wait, She really could be still awake, She'll kill us, no, don't open that-"

Despite his protests, Belle had pressed the button, and the door slid up, revealing the absolute _mess_ that had become of REGiNA's control room. This was the worst condition she'd seen any of the chambers in.

Beside her, Rumpelstiltskin relaxed slightly, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay, we just need to cross the room, and go down those stairs. There's a breaker room."

Belle nodded and led the way. Behind her, Rumpel was skirting the edges of the fallen machinery like he was afraid they'd spring to life and attack him. "I heard it was a human who deactivated Her," he said, trying to sound conversational but unable to hide the tremor in his voice.

"Really," Belle said, keeping her tone neutral. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell Rumpelstiltskin about her past exploits at that moment. Maybe once they were safely out, but not right now.

He laughed nervously. "Really."

They reached the stairs and started down them, but were stopped when they realized that most of the steps were gone and all that remained was a drop to the bottom. Belle considered the dilemma, then turned her back to Rumpel. "Hang on," she said.

"What?" His alarm was clear.

"We're going to jump," she said calmly.

He began to back up the steps, hands out in front of himself defensively. "No. No way."

Belle snagged him by the elbow and pulled him back to her. "I promised you that you would be safe. I keep my promises."

He met her eyes with that strange look on his face again, and his throat bobbed. His eyes flickered down, back up, down again. She grabbed his chin and made him look at her, staring him dead in the eye. "We are going to jump," she repeated.

He seemed transfixed by her, like a deer in the headlights. When she turned her back to him again and instructed him to hold on, he did so. His fingers dug into her shoulders a little too hard, but she'd had worse. She hooked her arms under his knees, noticing he was lighter than she thought he'd be. He was only a little taller than her anyway, and she was kind of short.

"Here we go," she said and stepped off the ledge, interrupting him mid-protest. They landed safely, though she did stagger a bit under the unfamiliar weight. He climbed off her, legs shaking.

"Let's not do that again," he said weakly.

She smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "You did good."

A small, dopey smile began at the corners of his mouth, and she was so happy that it was getting easier for him to smile. She didn't know what had happened to him to make him so untrusting and afraid, and judging by this place's track record, she didn't want to know. But seeing him come out of his shell bit by tiny bit pleased her to no end.

They both realized at the same time they were standing closer to each other than necessary, and sprang apart. Rumpelstiltskin cleared his throat and gestured to the catwalk ahead of them. "This way," he said, but let her take the lead again.

This catwalk was even more meandering than the last, weaving through large pneumatic tubes that flowed with weighted storage cubes.

Behind her, she heard a sudden sharp intake of breath. She turned to see Rumpel gripping the railings so tightly his knuckles were white, his eyes fixed on the grated floor. Or rather, the sickeningly long drop visible below.

She walked back to him and put her hand over his. "Rumpel," she said softly. "You're safe."

He swallowed audibly, still frozen.

"Just look up at me, okay? Don't look down. I promise you won't fall." Slowly, she managed to coax his gaze back up, and gave him an encouraging smile. "It's just a little farther."

He nodded wordlessly, and she gently led him the rest of the way until they were on solid ground. Once off the catwalk, he took a shuddering breath. "Sorry about that," he said, looking ashamed of himself. "I'm just… used to my management rail when I'm over drops like that."

She gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's okay to be scared, Rumpel."

He hurried over to a set of sliding doors, hiding his face from her. The doors slid open when he tapped a button, revealing a cylindrical chamber that seemed to be _made_ of switches. She followed him inside, tilting her head back. The chamber went up for a long, long ways.

He was looking around rather despairingly. "We're looking for a switch that operates an elevator," he said, and her face fell. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Then he looked down, and his expression brightened. "I can plug myself in!"

She looked down as well in time to see a plug-thing in a chair slide out of the floor, and he sat in it. He muttered under his breath as he mentally sifted through files.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them shuddered. Rumpelstiltskin's face filled with dread as they began to move upwards. "No, no, no!"

"What's happening?" Belle twisted this way and that, staring in dismay as the rising platform flipped up every single switch it passed.

"I don't know!" he said, panicking. "Something went wrong, I don't have clearance!"

Above them, the ceiling opened, and the platform came to a stop on the floor of the control room.

And then that voice, that _goddamn voice_, said the last three words either one of them wanted to hear. "_Power up initiated._"

They watched in horror as the derelict chassis sparked into life, slowly pulling itself back together. A form rose from the rubble, trailing cables and dust. REGiNA straightened up and gave the pair of them her best glare, managing to look foreboding despite the twigs in her hair and her tattering jumpsuit. The cables pulled her up and reconnected her to the chassis' metal arm. Two mechanical claws lowered from the ceiling, grabbing Belle by the back of her shirt and Rumpelstiltskin by his right leg, yanking both of them into the air.

"Well, well, well," She said with a smirk. "It's been a long time."

"No, no," Rumpelstiltskin gasped. "Nonononono-"

Without even acknowledging he was there, REGiNA crushed the claw down on his leg and flung him aside.

"Rumpel!" Belle screamed.

"It's good to see you again," She said, continuing as if nothing had happened.

"Can't say I return the sentiment," Belle spat.

REGiNA's faded red lips curved into the smile Belle had come to loathe. "Still full of that old fire, I see. Good." She began to swing Belle across the room. "Since you went to all the trouble of waking me up, we might as well begin testing again." She stopped, dangling Belle over the incinerator.

Belle struggled fruitlessly as the aperture opened beneath her.

"There's just one small thing we need to take care of first."

And then Belle was falling.

She barely had time to breathe as she fell down the rabbit hole to hell, the tube twisting and turning, her heart nearly stopping as she only just made it past smashing spike plates. A red glow appeared beneath her feet, and she braced herself for impact. The long-fall boots absorbed most of the shock, but she was still pitched forward onto the wreckage. Groaning, she pushed herself to her feet and looked around.

"Welcome to the incinerator room," said REGiNA. "Do try not to trip over any parts of me that you threw down here."

Belle glowered and began to pick her way across the room. The air was stifling and sour, and heat radiated up from below. She did her best not to touch anything. Safely past the incinerator, she looked around and caught sight of the portal device under some rubble. She bounded across the room and shoved aside the wreckage as quickly as she could, claiming her prize. The dual portal device.

"Oh, good. You found it," She said. "Now we can have some _real_ fun."

Belle grinned fiercely as she relished the weight of the portal gun in her hand, her trigger fingers twitching. She'd find Rumpelstiltskin, defeat REGiNA, and escape to the surface. Real fun was right.

It was time to do the brave thing.


	3. The Cold Boot

_This chapter is going to have kind of a different writing format, since it's mostly just a series of chambers. Let me know if there's anything I need to fix or clear up. When I said I wasn't going to do the whole thing, I lied – this is too fun. I will stop enhancing the truth in 3… 2…_

* * *

Chapter Two  
The Cold Boot

_01_

"_I'm so glad I finally get to introduce you to the lasers,_" REGiNA said, Her voice reaching Belle through unseen speakers. "_They're such basic Science. The fundamentals. I love them. This one is fairly simple, just to get you used to them. I'm sure after such a long time in stasis, you're a little rusty. Don't worry. We'll soon work through that._"

Belle glowered and solved the test in five seconds flat. She flashed the camera a smug smile before stepping through the door.

_02_

Belle had to grudgingly admit to herself that she liked the lasers. They were a drastic improvement on the energy pellets, which she had despised. The lasers were much easier to direct, none of that bouncing about nonsense.

She portaled to the opposite side of a barrier to get a Redirection Cube, when one of the panels in the wall moved. She glanced up sharply to see Rumpelstiltskin on the opposite side. Relief washed through her like a tidal wave, and she moved towards him, but he hurriedly pressed a finger to his lips. He pointed upwards with his other hand.

Understanding dawned. REGiNA didn't know he was still running around. She nodded, and he gave her a thumbs-up before vanishing.

_03_

She hoped that there wouldn't be too many more chambers of solely lasers, because that would get very old, very fast.

For a moment, she thought she saw Rumpelstiltskin through a gap in the floor, but couldn't be sure. It was reassuring to know that not only was he okay, but that he was following along. Maybe he was even working on a way to bust her out. The thought made her smile. For all he seemed (and seemed to think himself) gutless, he was brave in his own way.

A new sound caught her ear, over the faint hum of the Thermal Discouragement Beams. She made her way to a gap in the wall. There was a small chamber beyond, and she hopped down into it. What she'd heard was music, emanating from a little radio in the corner. It was a sad, lilting tune. She sat with her back against the wall and looked around at the paintings that covered the walls. It was another of her unseen friend's hideouts.

She tuned out REGiNA's jibes and stayed there until the song ended.

_04_

"_I'd forgotten how quickly you solved tests,_" She said. "_I would say you were one of my favorite test subjects, but you're a murderous lunatic, and, quite frankly, an unpleasant person in general. Certainly not ideal favorite test subject material._"

Belle used a portal to detach the security camera from the wall, just to spite Her.

_05_

Belle had a new favorite testing element. The Aerial Faith Plates were even better than dropping yourself off a ledge and into a portal – there was something exhilarating about her feet connecting with the plate and then being sprung away.

She felt like a superstar when she caught the cube midair.

_06_

She learned that she especially loved using the Faith Plates consecutively, flying one way, landing on the plate and then flying again in another direction, crossing the room in giant leaps.

It made her feel free.

_07_

REGiNA was just being childish, dissolving the cube before she could use it. Belle caught sight of Rumpelstiltskin behind some loose wall panels, and rolled her eyes at him when She dissolved a second cube. He stifled a laugh and withdrew as the panels fixed themselves.

Well, two could play at the childish game. When REGiNA told her not to take anything out of the test chamber because the Emancipation Grid was broken, Belle made sure to go back and retrieve the Companion Cube.

REGiNA dissolved that one too.

_08_

Sometimes it worried Belle that she actually enjoyed testing. She loved the thrill of solving puzzles, of looking at a room and the riddle it posed and then unraveling it. If Aperture wasn't patently insane and if she weren't being held here at the whim of a psychotic AI, then escaping probably wouldn't be such a priority. She could imagine a facility that actually cared about the safety of its volunteers, one that had a welcoming environment, and then testing wouldn't be so bad. She'd happily make a living being a test subject if only this facility and the long-gone people who had built it weren't completely bugnuts.

It worried her because she didn't know what her purpose was otherwise.


	4. The Return

_So this chapter is actually a combination of the events in The Return and The Surprise, since honestly not enough happens in them individually to write about, and in this story there is no 'surprise' anyway._

_Also, phantom-jaselin on dA drew some wonderful fanart for this and you should totally go look at it because it made my year.  
_

* * *

Chapter Three  
The Return

The tests were beginning to blur together, a continuous parade of Faith Plates and Discouragement Beams and suspicious-smelling goop and grey walls. Even REGiNA's steady stream of passive-aggressive barbs were beginning to blend into each other. Belle was tiring quickly, and was starting to suspect that Her remark about recycling the same roomful of air might have a degree of truth to it.

Finally, she found a ledge and sat on it.

"_What are you doing_?" REGiNA snapped. "_We've still got [insert number here] tests to go_."

"I'm exhausted," Belle retorted. "Let me have a moment."

"_Hm. The adrenal vapor must not be working properly_."

"Or _maybe_," Belle snarled, her patience at an end, "I've just spent an extended period of time in stasis, and just _maybe_ that could have effected my physical condition. What's a girl got to do to get a decent meal around here? And if you say anything about turnovers, apple or otherwise," she added vehemently, "when I get my hands on you, what I did to you last time will seem like a spa treatment in comparison."

"_Well, since you seem to feel so strongly about it,_" said REGiNA, "_perhaps I can scrounge something up from storage_."

Belle couldn't resist the hope that flared up in her chest. "Really?"

"_No, not really. I'll just pump some extra nutrients into the air_."

Belle slumped. What else had she expected? She wondered if she could find one of her unseen friend's stashes of canned beans. She technically didn't need to eat, thanks to some science Aperture worked, and as a result she wasn't exactly hungry, but sometimes it was the principle of the thing.

Lying back on the floor, she folded her hands behind her head, her legs still dangling over the ledge.

REGiNA sighed. "_Tell me, what will it take to get you moving again_?"

"Let me take a nap," Belle replied. "Give me fifteen minutes to recharge."

"_I could always just throw some turrets into the chamber,_" She suggested.

"Go ahead, shoot me," Belle said. "Then who'll run through your tests?"

When REGiNA didn't respond, Belle knew she'd called Her bluff.

"_Fifteen minutes_," She finally said. "_Not a second more_."

Relief washed through Belle. "You got it." She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, steady and slow, and the rhythm lulled her into sleep as her weariness overtook her.

_She dreamt of the abandoned corridors of the facility, eerily empty. The only signs of there ever having been people were the occasional reminders scrawled on post-it notes, and once she'd found a faded photo of a family. Otherwise, she could have thought the place had been built but never populated. The halls went on forever, leading from derelict workstation to derelict workstation. She wondered about the people who had worked here, even though it made her sad, and she wondered what had happened to the bodies, but decided she didn't want to know. _

_And it went on and on and on to twisty metal stairs and ruined test chambers and a smile with lips as red as blood and a soft brogue that belonged to a man who walked as if apologizing for his existence._

She was rudely awoken by the sound of an air horn.

"_Your fifteen minutes are up_," said REGiNA. "_Time to get back to Science._"

Belle groaned and rubbed her temples, then picked up the portal gun and pushed herself to her feet. She was definitely feeling better, and solved the chamber with relative ease.

When she moved to enter the next chamber, the door stuttered open a few inches, then snapped back shut, spitting sparks.

REGiNA's tone was laced with irritation as she said, "_I have to fix this. I'll be right back – don't go anywhere._"

Silence fell, but was suddenly broken by knocking above her. She looked up to see Rumpel tapping on the window of the observation room. He was hanging from his management rail, and she could see his right leg occasionally twitch and spark. It seemed like it was his knee that was damaged.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied hastily. "I jammed the door mechanism with some bird's eggs I found, but we don't have long 'til She comes back. I just wanted to let you know that I think I have a kind of plan, you just need to hang on for a couple more chambers-"

A furious cawing cut him off, and a feathery black form dive-bombed him. He let out an undignified yelp and covered his head with his arms, curling in on himself. "I'll see you in a bit!" he yelled as he sped away on his rail, the livid bird in hot pursuit.

Belle bit down on her lip to stifle a laugh.

"_There,_" said REGiNA. "_It seems so pointless to have separate mainframes for different things if I just have to end up doing it all myself. Well, you know what they say: If you want a job done right…_"

The door slid open, and Belle stepped into the next chamber. It was, indeed, a couple of chambers later when, as she was walking along a light bridge, the power gave out. The bridge vanished underneath her, and she nearly fell into the unpleasant goo. Off to her left, the wall opened up, revealing Rumpelstiltskin on the other side. "This way!" he shouted to her. "Quickly!"

"_Oh, it's _you," REGiNA said with disgust. "_Don't think escaping me is going to be so easy_."

Belle was already racing across the room. She leapt over the gap and onto the catwalk beyond, bumping into the railing but scarcely giving herself time to recover before sprinting along the catwalk after Rumpelstiltskin, who looked absolutely terrified. They rounded a corner to see an open test chamber.

"_This is the last chamber,_" REGiNA said. "_You're almost done – why quit so close to the finish line?_"

Belle veered in the opposite direction, leaping to a lower catwalk when her original one ended. She took a couple more turns under Rumpel's direction and began to run across a flat space with a low ceiling, when suddenly panels rose to wall her in. She heard Rumpel shout her name, and then she heard the familiar sound of turrets. She snuck over to each one and knocked them over before finding a way to portal out of the trap.

"I'm okay," she reassured him. "Now _run_!"

Their escape route led them through a maze of catwalks, and just as Rumpelstiltskin exclaimed in relief that safety was in sight, the walls around them began to shift and groan.

"She's bringing the place down around us," he said in horror.

"Keep moving!" Belle screamed over the cacophony, just managing to avoid being crushed by a giant metal pillar. She dashed across the final stretch, throwing herself into the elevator and slamming the button. As the lift began to rise, she heard Rumpelstiltskin shout, "I'll meet you on the other side!"

The elevator came to a rest in front of a door, which slid open with a pneumatic hiss. She stepped into the concrete corridor beyond, sweet silence falling around her as the door sealed itself behind her.


	5. The Escape

_This one is pretty long, which is why it took me a while to get it up. It also contains a scene that I've been wanting to write since I first got the idea for this fic. Three guesses which one it is._

* * *

Chapter Four  
The Escape

The next door began to open, but then sparked and stopped, not leaving enough room to squeeze through. Belle shot a portal through the gap, stepped through, and continued down the corridor. She turned a corner onto a catwalk, and Rumpelstiltskin greeted her as he slid past her on the management rail. "I'm glad you made it – she can't touch us back here."

And then the lights went out.

"I think you spoke too soon," Belle remarked.

"Ah," said Rumpelstiltskin.

She groped blindly for the catwalk's railing, just to give her some sense of place. "What now?"

A light flicked on, temporarily blinding her. She raised her arm to cover her eyes as Rumpel hastily apologized. "Sorry, sorry. I have a flashlight."

The circle on his chest that had once glowed softly was now shining bright. He directed the beam down at the catwalk. "We should get going," he said.

They walked along in silence, the only sound the clanking of distant machinery. Belle looked up at him. The flashlight was illuminating his face from below, casting his features in spooky shadow.

"Know any ghost stories?" she asked.

He gave her a bewildered look.

"Because the way the flashlight is lighting up your face – it looks perfect for sharing some scary stories," she said jokingly.

"Oh, uh." He floundered. "No. Never really… been a fan."

"It's alright," she said, grinning up at him. "I'm just yanking your chain."

"Oh." He laughed nervously.

She looked at him again, harder this time, searching his face. His features were drawn tight. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine," he replied, but his voice cracked. He was resolutely not looking at her.

She reached up and grabbed his hand, stopping him. "Look at me, Rumpel."

His entire body tensed up, and his knee sparked. He winced.

She tightened her grip. "Rumpelstiltskin."

His gaze stayed fixed on the catwalk, and something that looked a lot like shame crept onto his face.

An idea niggled at the back of her mind. "You're afraid of the dark, aren't you."

He swallowed.

She moved around so she was in front of him. "I told you earlier, it's okay to be afraid. I'm afraid all the time."

He stared at her in shock. "_You_?"

Smiling up at him, she said, "Of course I am. This is a scary place, but courage isn't about not being frightened. It's about being frightened and pushing on anyways. Just do the brave thing, and bravery will follow."

There was that expression again, like he'd never seen anything like her. She tugged gently on him. "Let's get moving. You still need to tell me your plan."

He began gliding along the rail after her. Before he could begin his explanation, they reached an assembly line. Metal panels slid by towards automated lasers that were carving patterns into the panels. There didn't seem to be anywhere else to go, and she needed her full attention for this, so she said, "Hold that thought," and hopped down. He hovered above her, shining the light down as she dodged other panels crossing in front of her. The lasers were easily enough avoided, and then she was back on solid ground.

"You know," said Rumpelstiltskin, "I worked down here for a bit. But eventually the foreman replaced me with someone more qualified."

"Who?" she asked.

"Well-" He unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile. "-an exact duplicate of himself."

Belle burst out laughing, and he chuckled with her. "Talk about narcissism," she giggled.

He grinned at her, obviously pleased at being able to make her laugh. As they continued to make their way through the various assembly lines and transport tubes, he told her about all the different tasks he'd had during his stint in Aperture, and how he occupied his time when there wasn't mush else to do. It was as if she'd managed to open some kind of dam, and every time she laughed at one of his jokes, his face lit up.

It was also fascinating to see the inner workings of the facility, how it functioned. When she'd previously journey through Aperture's backstage, it had mostly been offices and metal pillars that stomped for no apparent reason. Here, she could watch turrets being constructed and the cubes being shipped around.

Eventually they had to split up. She reached a conveyor belt littered with debris, which the voice returned to tell her was the Turret Redemption Line.

Belle wasn't sure what to think of that.

She portaled onto the belt, ignoring the voice when it told her the Redemption Line was not a ride. She hopped off the belt onto a vent, then made her way over to the second belt. This one she had to walk against the flow, stepping carefully around the piles of junk. A flickering turret was coming up, and as she drew near it said, "_I'm different_."

She paused, and then used the portal gun to pick it up.

"_Thank you_," it said.

"Uh, no problem," Belle replied.

"_The answer is beneath us_," it informed her.

This left her nonplussed. "The answer to what?"

"_Prometheus was punished by the gods for giving knowledge to man. He was cast into the bowels of the earth and pecked by birds._"

The words were eerie spoken in the high, sweet voice. She felt an inexplicable chill.

"_Evil isn't born._"

Belle put the turret down hastily and hurried off down the catwalk, but she couldn't escape the turret's final remark, echoing after her: "_It always comes with a price._"

She walked towards the sound of other turret voices and gunfire as quickly as she could without running, unwilling to admit to herself how deeply the 'different' turret had unnerved her. There was an emancipation grid up ahead, and a short hallway beyond. The left wall of the corridor was glass, giving her a view of yet another conveyor belt. This one trundled turrets along in front of a test dummy, pausing long enough to give each of them a bit of target practice.

She noted with interest that there were incomplete turrets, lacking the white shell as well as bullets. Even their voices and attitudes were different. Where the normal turrets had childish voices and deceptively sweet demeanors, the defective turrets were more, well… _likeable_. Belle wasn't sure how to put it. They weren't cold and clinical.

She used their lack of ammo as an opportunity to portal over to the hallway across the conveyor belt. Once she left that hall, she found herself on another catwalk. The turret line continued alongside her. A scanner judged each turret, and the ones that didn't pass muster were launched across the room into an incinerator.

Rumpelstiltskin appeared above her. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey yourself," she replied. "What's the plan?"

He nodded towards the turret line. "Follow me."

As he led her along the catwalk to the scanner's control room, he explained his plan. "REGiNA's main defenses are turrets and neurotoxin, right?"

"Right."

"So, what happens if we take that away?"

A slow smile spread over her face as understanding dawned. "You're a genius."

He turned bright red. His mouth opened and shut like a fish, rendered speechless.

"And this is the control center for the turrets?" she asked, prompting him.

He managed to find his voice. "Aye," he croaked. "If we can shut down the line, She won't have access to any more turrets."

She grinned at him. "Let's get to it, then."

The control center looked mostly like another office space, with the exception of a small room in the corner. It was about the size of a walk-in closet and contained a turret that the scanner was using as a template. Belle tried the handle, but the door was locked. She considered it thoughtfully as Rumpel hovered behind her. After a moment, with a wry glance towards Rumpelstiltskin, she said, "I'll have to manually override it."

"What-"

She grabbed a nearby chair, hefted it into the air, and smashed the door's window. He laughed, a sincere and warming sound, but was cut off with a quiet hiss of pain when his leg sparked. She shot a portal in the wall of the control room, but before she stepped through, she gave him a concerned look. "Is there anything we can do about your leg?"

He shook his head. "It's not important."

She doubted that, but didn't press the issue. The last thing she wanted right now was a stubbornness contest. She stepped into the tiny room.

"Taking away that turret should do the trick," Rumpel said.

Belle picked up the turret and brought it into the main room. It shuddered and beeped ominously, and she managed to fling it away from her in time before it exploded.

Behind her, the mechanical voice said, "_Template missing. Continuing from memory._"

Rumpelstiltskin groaned, and Belle swore. "What do we do now?" he asked.

Belle didn't reply at first, her hand on her chin and her eyes narrowed in thought. Suddenly she brightened, snapping her fingers. "Wait here!" she called over her shoulder as she raced from the control room and back onto the catwalks. She positioned herself in front of the incinerator chute. Rumpel was anxiously watching her from the control room, and she gave him a thumbs-up. She waited for one of the defective turrets to come along on the line, and when it was launched across the room, she caught it before it could fall into the incinerator.

"Whew, that was a close one," said the turret. "You saved my bacon, pal."

She couldn't help her smile. "I have a job for you," she told it.

"You can count on me, sister! What I gotta do?"

"Just be yourself," she said as she re-entered the control room.

"You got it!"

She set it down on the scanner, and it clacked happily.

"_New template accepted_," the voice said, and Belle watched with satisfaction as the defective turrets passed unhindered, while the fully functional turrets were discarded.

"You're brilliant," Rumpel said.

"Couldn't have done it without you," she said, bumping his left leg lightly with her fist. "We make a great team."

He stared at her in shock, and then the widest smile she'd seen on him stretched across his face, ear to ear. "Next up's the neurotoxin," he said.

She swept her arm out. "Lead the way."

He opened the next door, and they followed a path that led them through what looked oddly enough like a classroom. Beyond was yet another darkened corridor, and Rumpel switched on his flashlight. It illuminated a long row of elementary school science projects. Above them hung a banner that read 'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day.'

An uneasy feeling coiled in the pit of her stomach, and Rumpel confirmed her suspicions. "That was the day She took over," he said quietly.

The projects consisted of dried-up potato batteries, with the exceptions of a lemon battery and a baking soda volcano. At the end of the row was a massive growth, from the floor up through the ceiling. Barely visible behind it was a child's informational poster board.

"I think that one got away a bit," Rumpel remarked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Belle nodded in agreement, and the pair of them moved onwards. They ended up on another catwalk. She was getting really tired of navigating Aperture's maze of metal bridges. Give her solid ground any day.

She noticed a large pipe of to the side at almost the same time Rumpel did. It had 'Neurotoxin Source' and an arrow pointing forward.

"Well," she said. "That's fairly straightforward."

They walked alongside another assembly line – or rather, a _dis_assembly line. Dark metal panels slid past on rails and had their bottom sections sliced off by a laser.

She pressed a button, and the next set of doors before them slid open. They entered the chamber beyond.

"Holy…" Rumpelstiltskin breathed.

Belle concurred. The room was massive, and in the center was a long white cylinder, stretching up to the ceiling and downward out of sight. It was a startling reminder of how _big_ she was learning Aperture to be.

They made their way up to the control room, and here they split up. Rumpel went into the office. "I'll see if I can access the controls. If you get any ideas, let me know."

Belle nodded and went up to the observation deck. There weren't any guardrails, and it was just a straight drop to whatever bottom the chamber had. There was also a sign beside her instructing employees to look directly into an implosion. Aperture really had safety in mind.

She examined the generator. There were large tubes leading out of the main cylinder, and she thought that if they could somehow disconnect those it would at least cut off access to the neurotoxin supply. Movement caught her eye, and she looked up to the right and saw a panel sliding along the ceiling, which was followed by another, and then another. Looking around, she saw a similar line moving up the far wall. The laser she passed suddenly came to mind, and she raced back out of the control room, put a portal in front of the laser, and ran back in. With a few more well-placed portals, the laser was able to slice through the tubes.

The entire chamber began to shudder, and the generator started collapsing in on itself. Alarms blared. "_Warning_," said the voice. "_Neurotoxin pressure has reached dangerously un-lethal levels._"

"Belle!" Rumpel shouted. "Get in here, quick! I've opened a tube that will take us to Her chamber!"

She stumbled back to the office, unable to get a proper footing as the ground shook wildly. The wall in front of her fell apart, and she felt something dragging her forward. She looked up in time to see Rumpelstiltskin get sucked into a hole in the wall, and then she was pulled in as well.

She'd curled up defensively, arms over her head and eyes squeezed shut as she rocketed forward, but then Rumpel said, "Belle, you've got to see this!"

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. They were in one of the glass tubes she'd seen carrying around weighted storage cubes, whooshing weightlessly along. A maze of identical tubes surrounded them, seemingly going on forever. She lowered her arms to wrap around her knees, drinking in the sight.

Rumpelstiltskin had already taken the same position, though his damaged knee didn't quite bend properly. He was grinning at her. "It's amazing isn't it? This place is huge. We're only seeing the surface – it goes down for _miles_, but the lower sections were all sealed off a long time ago."

"Wow," said Belle, because she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Then she noticed they were coming up on an intersection. "Rumpel!"

"What?" He turned his head to look. "Oh, shi-"

And then he was whisked away down another tube, while Belle kept going straight.

"I'll find you!" he shouted, and then he was gone.

She was whooshed around a few more turns, then was dumped unceremoniously on another catwalk. She followed it up to another corridor, but stopped when she realized that the rest of it was gone. All that remained was a bit of floor jutting out and then a very, _very_ long drop. She looked around, searching for some way to move forwards, and then spotted a lit portalable panel. Setting a couple of portals, she dropped into a small, metal room. There was a door that read 'REGiNA Emergency Shutdown and Apple Turnover Dispensary.' She looked around, seeking some other way out. Nothing presented itself. _You've got to be kidding me_, she thought. With a sigh, she went over and turned the handle. The door fell over, and the panels began to move.

"_I can't believe you _fell_ for that_," REGiNA said gleefully.

Belle rolled her eyes and decided not to grace that with a response. The walls closed in, and the floor opened. She was dropped into a glass chamber that began to move.

"I hope you brought something stronger than a portal gun," She said as the panels before Belle opened to reveal the chamber beyond, and REGiNA hanging from her chassis. "You're not worth the trouble of keeping you around, so I guess I'm just going to have to kill you. It's been fun."

The glass room stopped in front of Her, and She smiled nastily. Claws descended, surrounding the small room with defective turrets, which promptly exploded, cracking the glass walls of her prison.

"It seems you've been busy back there," She said, narrowing her eyes. A pipe began to extend from the opposite wall. "Well, there's still my favorite deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I'd take a really deep breath, and hold it."

The end of the pipe smashed into the glass wall, shattering the prison completely.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A!"

Rumpelstiltskin rocketed out of the chute and ended up sprawled on the ground in front of Belle. "Hello," he wheezed.

REGiNA's hands fisted. "I'm really coming to hate you."

Belle helped him to his feet. He had to lean on her for support.

"_Warning: Central core 80% corrupt_," said the voice.

REGiNA's head snapped up. "What?"

"_Alternate core detected,_" it continued. "_To initiate core transfer, please deposit substitute core in receptacle._"

"That's me!" Rumpel said. A chair with a plug in it was rising from the floor. "We've got to get over there and plug me in."

"A core transfer?" REGiNA whipped around to face Belle. "Don't you _dare_ plug him in!"

They hobbled across the chamber, ignoring REGiNA's threats. Belle eased Rumpel into the seat, and the chair connected to the port in his back.

"_Substitute core accepted. Substitute core, are you ready to start the procedure?_"

"Yes!"

"_Corrupted core, are you ready to start the procedure?_"

"_No!_"

"_Stalemate detected. Transfer procedure cannot continue, unless a stalemate associate is present to press the stalemate resolution button._"

Belle strained to hear the voice over Rumpel and REGiNA's arguing. The far wall opened revealing a red button on top of a white stand. She ran across the room, ignoring REGiNA as She shouted at her not to press the button. She was almost there when the floor suddenly sprang up and knocked her back. Belle hopped back to her feet and dodged around it, only to be faced with more panels trying to block her way. She used portals to get around them, and slammed her hand down on the button.

REGiNA let out a sharp cry and went limp. The chair Rumpel was in lowered into the floor. "Wait, what if this hurts?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh believe me," REGiNA said, still hanging motionless, "it will."

The floor closed over Rumpel, cutting off his protests. Panels rose up around REGiNA, shielding Her from view. Belle heard Her scream, a piercing, undulating sound that made her insides twist.

Everything went silent. The panels that made up the walls went slack, and the lights faded.

And then the room pulled together again and the lights went on. The shielding panels withdrew and Rumpelstiltskin rose into the air, attached to the chassis.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "This is _amazing_! I can see everything from here! The database is huge, and I have access to all of it!" He blinked. "Oh, right. The elevator. _Voilà_!"

A glass tube emerged from the floor, and rails extended upwards through the ceiling. The door slid open, and Belle got inside.

Something occurred to him. "How am I going to get in? I need to be here to control the elevator."

Belle thought about it. "Well, you've got all the access codes, right? You could set the elevator on autopilot, detach yourself, hop in, and we'll both ride to the surface."

"You're right! Hm." He scratched his chin. "Autopilot, autopilot… Ah! Here it is!"

Belle grinned as he did a happy little tap dance on the air, his delighted laugh like music to her ears. But then the laugh began to rise in pitch until it was almost a snigger, almost malicious. Dread coiled in the pit of her stomach.

"Actually," he said thoughtfully once his laughter subsided, "why do we have to leave right now?"

The sudden turnabout left her floundering. "Rumpel-"

"I mean," he continued, "d'you have any idea how _amazing_ this is? All this power at my fingertips!" The way he said the last part was incredulous. Then he smiled again, but it wasn't the pleasant smile she'd grown so fond of seeing. "I'm actually in control! I don't have to be afraid of anything anymore, not with this kind of power!"

Belle could suddenly see the future in sickening clarity, knew exactly where this was going, but could only watch in horror as her vocal cords struggled to catch up with her mind. She wanted to scream at him, stop him, tell him he was _better_ than this, but the words stuck in her throat.

He laughed again, almost giggling. "I did this!"

REGiNA spoke up from where she'd been discarded on the floor beside the lift. "You didn't do anything." It sounded like it took monumental effort for Her to speak. "_She_ did all the work."

"What are you talking about?" Rumpel snarled. "She would still be in stasis if it weren't for me! She wouldn't have even gotten this far!"

"You're just some broken android," She retorted. "I'm surprised she even put up with you this long."

REGiNA's words struck a nerve. "Oh, yeah?" he shouted. "Well, maybe it's time I _did_ something, then!"

A claw reached out and began to drag Her away, back into the mechanics beneath the chassis. "What're you doing?" She asked in alarm. "Stop-" And then she disappeared from sight.

Belle finally got her voice back. "Rumpel, this isn't like you-"

"Oh?" he snapped, cutting her off. "And what _am_ I like? You don't know anything! I've done nothing but sacrifice to get us here, and what have you sacrificed? Nothing! My leg is _broken_ because you made me go into Her chamber! You promised I'd be safe! You call a broken leg _safe_? I've faced all sorts of terrors since I woke you up, and now that things are _finally_ going right for me for the first time _ever_, you can't even be happy for me! I thought you cared, but I should have known better. No one ever cares about me! Why should you be any different?"

Belle felt like crying, but she had to be stronger than that. "I care, Rumpel! Can't you see what's happening? The chassis is corrupting you-"

"_You're lying_!" he screamed at her. "All that stuff about us being a great team, you were just _lying_! You were using me to get through the facility and once you got what you wanted, you were going to toss me aside, just like everyone else does! But now _I'm_ the one with the power, and no one's ever going to treat me like I'm worthless again!"

She bit down on her lip so hard she tasted blood, her heart breaking for him.

There was a ding, and Rumpel took a deep breath to calm himself. A claw moved forward, clutching a potato battery. "See that?" he said. "She's trapped in a potato battery now. Just a child's plaything. How the mighty have fallen, eh?"

"I know you," REGiNA said, her voice faint and whispery.

Rumpel froze. "What was that?"

"I _know_ you. The engineers tried _everything_ to make me behave, applying personality cores to me like superficial bandages. They even made a Cowardice Core, hoping it would make sure I wouldn't have the _guts_ to step out of line. When they plugged it in, all I could hear was this fearful little voice in the back of my head, telling me to be terrified of everything."

Rumpelstiltskin was growing agitated, unable to look at Belle or REGiNA.

"It was _you_," REGiNA snarled. "_You_ were that pathetic voice-"

"No," said Rumpelstiltskin.

"-you're not just some _ordinary_ coward-"

"-stop it-"

"-you're the coward they built to make me _weak_!"

"_I AM NOT A COWARD!_" he screamed, hurling REGiNA through the glass of the elevator. The potato landed at Belle's feet.

"Yes you are!" REGiNA said.

"Stop, both of you, stop!" Belle begged, but neither of them paid her any heed.

"You'll never be anything but a coward!" REGiNA shouted.

Rumpel let out a sound of pure rage and slammed the claw down on top of the elevator. It shuddered and scraped downwards.

"Rumpel, stop! _Please_!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" He brought the claw down again, and the lift rattled ominously. "Don't-" _slam_ "-ever-" _slam_ "-tell me what to do!"

The elevator jolted and gave up the ghost. The floor fell out from beneath Belle's feet. She thought she heard a breathless "_ohno_" from Rumpelstiltskin and she screamed his name, and then she was falling, falling, falling into blackness.


	6. The Fall

_And now for something completely different. Welcome to Old Aperture.  
_

* * *

Chapter Five  
The Fall

For a few moments, Belle felt her heart stop beating. Her insides felt heavy and light at the same time, and she wanted to scream but her throat had seized up. Falling like this was so different from falling in the tests, because in the tests she had control and she knew what she was doing. Here, she had no guarantee that she would survive the fall, let alone even survive long enough to hit the ground.

As she kept falling, she began to feel light-headed and distant, disconnected from reality. She supposed that was her mind's way of stopping her from dying of sheer terror. REGiNA was falling alongside her, and when Belle saw Her, she was suddenly very angry.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she snapped.

"What?" REGiNA said defensively.

"You _antagonized _him! What the _fuck_ possessed you to do that?"

REGiNA was stunned into silence.

"We were completely at his mercy!" Belle ranted on. "He was about to go power-mad anyway, and then you had the_ bright idea _to_ egg him on_! So I ask you again – _what were you thinking_?"

"I-" REGiNA hesitated. "Reflex, I suppose."

"Reflex." Belle laughed bitterly. "Of course."

"You know," REGiNA said. "What I said earlier was true. A team of highly intelligent scientists grouped together to create the most cowardly coward to ever cower. You're the one who plugged him in. What did you _think_ would happen?"

Belle bit her lip. "I thought I could count on him."

"Well, you thought wrong."

Belle squeezed her eyes shut against tears that threatened to fall and turned her face upwards. When she opened them again, she saw with dismay that the elevator was also falling with them. Chances of survival had now drastically decreased.

She looked down. Wooden planks criss-crossed the shaft below them, approaching nauseatingly fast.

She closed her eyes and waited for impact. And impact came.

* * *

The first thing she became aware of was deep aching pain. While unpleasant in every way, she took it as a good sign. Pain meant she was alive. She cracked her eyes open. Everything slowly swam into focus.

Directly above her, the ruined elevator dangled precariously from the end of the shaft. She heard a caw and looked over in time to see a crow fly off with potato REGiNA clutched in its talons. "Wait!" she shouted, struggling to move, but the bird was gone.

She eased herself into a sitting position and took stock of her condition. The long-fall boots had held true to their name, and were definitely the only reason she wasn't dead. Still, the force of the impact had rattled her entire body, and she felt sore all over. Her face stung in a couple of places, and she lifted her hand to poke at the scratches, probably caused by splinters of wood from the planks she'd crashed through. The back of her head felt bruised too, and she reached around to touch the tender spot, relieved when her hand came away free of blood. All in all, she was in way better shape than she had any right to be.

With a groan, she picked herself up off the ground and grabbed the portal gun from where it lay a few feet away.

An ominous creaking drew her attention upward, and she sprang out of the way just in time before the elevator crashed to the ground.

She exhaled, and began to investigate her surroundings. The new chamber she found herself in was vast, and more ruined than any part of Aperture she'd seen so far. Rumpelstiltskin's remark about sealed lower levels suddenly came to mind, and she realized that she was in the very bowels of the facility. It certainly was impressive in scale. She whistled appreciatively when she realized she couldn't even see the ceiling.

But now she was left with an alarming quandary. How was she going to get out?

Looking around, she noticed that there was only one direction to go in. "Well," she sighed, "time to follow the broken brick road."

She navigated the debris as best she could until she came upon a pathway with two signs along it. _Do Not Enter_ and _Keep Out_. Still, this was the only path she could find, so she followed it until she came to a wall. _Condemned Testing Area_ was painted along the top in large, fading yellow letters. There were a few more warning signs posted as well.

This day just kept getting better and better.

She used portals to circumnavigate the wall and continued on. The path she traveled led her past more and more warning signs. Well, she'd never paid Aperture's advice any heed before. Why start now? Even if the advice actually did seem legitimate this time.

Too bad, she decided. She was going to get out of here, and no spooky, dangerous, test chamber graveyard was going to stop her.

Suddenly lights clunked on, revealing a massive bulkhead before her, a giant yellow stripe down the middle. When she finally managed to unlock it, alarms blared and a white light flashed as the colossal hunk of metal ground open. Behind it was a wall, and a little door with a folding chair beside it.

Well. That was anticlimactic.

On the other side of the door was a cement pathway just above the level of a giant lake of foul-smelling goo. Well, at least something here was familiar. Behind her was a tall building, and with a few more portals she was able to get inside. She entered a large foyer, the metal framework of an Aperture Science sign hanging above it. The logo was different than she remembered it.

Almost the instant she entered, a cool and confident female voice began to speak. "_Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians – you're here because we want the best, and you are it._"

Belle investigated the room, searching for a way forward as the voice continued, "_So, who is ready to do some Science?_"

"_I am!_" said a new voice, young and enthusiastic.

"_Ah, yes. I'm sure you've all already met each other on the limo ride over, so allow me to introduce myself. I'm Cora Mills, and I own this place. The eager voice you heard is my lovely daughter, Regina._"

Belle froze. There was no way that was a coincidence. Perhaps the AI had been named after the young girl? It was entirely possible, if her mother was the one who had created Aperture. An affectionate monument to a loved daughter. She forced herself to relax, and Cora's voice continued.

"_She has great potential to become a strong pillar of this facility, and is already helping out. In fact, she was the one who transferred your honorariums to the charitable organization of your choice. Quite the clever little girl._"

By this point, Belle had figured out a way to fling herself across the room to a ledge with a door on it. The prerecorded message had ended, and she moved on into a hall that had probably once been lavish. Cora returned, crisp and professional.

"_There are over a thousand tests performed here in our Enrichment Center. I cannot personally oversee all of them, so these pre-recorded messages are provided to answer any questions you may have, and respond to your progress through the tests. Each of you will be assigned a different test depending upon your unique skills._"

Belle was honestly surprised. This Aperture seemed actually sane and well organized. She wondered where things had gone wrong along the way.

"_Those who are testing with the Repulsion Gel today, please follow the blue line. For those who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, there has been a slight change of plans. The test has been altered to a battle against mantis-men. Follow the yellow line, and you will be assigned a rifle. Good luck to all of you._"

Ah. There we go. She hoped there weren't any of those mantis-men still about. Just to be on the safe side, she decided not to follow the yellow line.

Before she continued, though, she investigated the welcome hall. There were two glass cases full of all sorts of trophies and awards (one, oddly enough, involving shower curtains), and between the two was a portrait. It depicted a lovely woman in perhaps her late thirties, a slight, knowing smile in the corner of her lips. The placard informed her that this was Cora. Belle eyed the painting warily. On first glance, the woman seemed nice enough, but there was something captured deep within her eyes that was just a little bit off. Or maybe she was just superimposing her perception of Aperture upon a perfectly innocent portrait. Still, Belle felt uneasy under the painted gaze. She moved on quickly.

The old facility would have been impossible to navigate without her portal gun. So much of it had fallen apart, most notably the catwalks. She counted herself lucky that anything worked at all. One of the signs in the entrance hall had indicated that this level had been constructed in 1956, and Belle had no idea what year it was now. Aperture certainly built things to last.

In order to get through one gate, she had to flip some kind of switch labeled ALPHA, white letters on a blue rectangle. The pipes around her creaked and groaned back into operation. After this, her hapless wandering led her to an elevator guarded by an Emancipation Grid. The elevator began to slide up, and she realized that she was going to end up on a testing track again. Only this time, she had no idea what was coming nex_t._

_Enrichment Sphere 01_

The elevator creaked to a stop, and Cora's voice greeted her as she stepped out of the elevator.

"_Let's begin_," she said, and Belle wondered how someone who sounded so composed and intelligent could be so warped. But the more she heard Cora talk, the more she could hear that faint underlying malevolence. "_The following tests will involve Repulsion Gel. Unfortunately, we haven't yet worked out exactly what element it is, but we do know what it does. In order to complete these tests, you'll have to use it to your advantage. Good luck._"

Belle entered the test chamber. It was fairly plain, and the first thing she noticed was the shallow pit in the center. The floor of the pit was coated in something blue. She glanced around. Yellow arrows on the floor encouraged her towards the pit, so she shrugged and leapt into it. The second her feet met the blue stuff, she was launched back into the air with a _sproing_. She flailed for a moment, trying to regain her balance in midair as she fell back towards the floor. She landed on the gel again, and again was flung into the air, but this time she was ready for it. It seemed that the higher she fell on it from, the higher it would spring her. She laughed in delight, like a child on a trampoline, and spent a good fifteen minutes just bouncing on the stuff, even trying a few aerial flips.

Then she reminded herself that she had a test to solve and a facility to escape, and with a touch of reluctance got back to business. In the next chamber she learned that she could walk across it if she was careful and didn't jump, and she particularly enjoyed the part where she bounced from wall to wall to get across a room.

_Enrichment Sphere 02_

Despite herself, she did her best to cover every inch of the chamber in Repulsion Gel. It took time and not a small amount of effort, but as she bounced around the room – off the floors, the walls, the ceiling, and eventually across the chasm that had the exit on the other side – she decided that it was totally worth it.

_Enrichment Sphere 03_

The year each test chamber had been built was printed above its entrance, and she realized that she was doing a strange kind of time travel. She had come to Aperture's origins, and now she was following it as it began to inch towards the future. A pang of something went through her heart. Sadness? Nostalgia? Maybe. Had she really become so invested in Aperture that seeing its illustrious beginnings and knowing how it all ended made her sad? Or, perhaps, it was pity. Yes, that was it. She pitied them and their hubris. They thought they were unsinkable.

On the outside of one test chamber was a poster, a bit faded but still readable. It warned against accidents and said _Safety First!_

Belle couldn't stop her derisive snort.

At last an elevator brought her to the exit hall, and she stepped off eagerly. Surely this would provide her with a way out.

Cora's voice was back to bid Belle goodbye. "_Congratulations_," she said smoothly. "_Because you made it here, you have provided a glorious contribution to Science. As the founder and CEO of Aperture Science, I thank you, and hope that one day you'll return to assist us again. Say goodbye, Regina_."

"_Goodbye, Regina!_" chirped the young voice.

Cora laughed, but it wasn't a warming sound. "_Isn't she precious. The elevator will take you to your limo. Farewell_."

An elevator! She hurried across the room and skidded to a stop. Her heart sank, and she resisted the urge to punch the _Out of Order_ sign over the elevator doors. With no other options, she went back the way she came and searched the vast space for somewhere to go. She spotted a door in a far wall, lit by a single lamp. So now she was back to playing it by ear. With a sigh, she carried on.

She reached another point where, in order to keep going, she had to flip a switch. This time, however, there were two switches. One was for gel pressure control, and the other was ambiguously labeled as _Pump Station Beta_ on an orange background. She switched on both of them.

The next space she reached was just as extensive as everything else. A yellow metal Aperture Science sign hung above her, the design different from the last one she'd seen. The letters were all lowercase and rounded. Looking around, she saw a control room up on a high ledge. Just as she began figuring out how to get up there, another of Cora's recordings began.

"_Welcome to Aperture Science Laboratories. You may have heard of us through of the 1968 Senate hearings on missing astronauts, but I can assure you any and all allegations are false. It's more than likely you recognize us because you have used one of our products – at least, ones that weren't stolen by snakes like Black Mesa._"

Belle's brow furrowed. The Cora she'd heard so far had been silver-tongued. This Cora seemed to be trying to smooth over her rather harried undertones. Senate hearings? No wonder she was tense. Aperture was going downhill fast, and the next part of the recording confirmed this.

"_I'm sure the benches in the waiting room are far more comfortable than the ones you are accustomed to sleeping on, but you may relax there for no more than twenty minutes. We do have tests to run. For your time, you will be compensated with sixty dollars cash._"

As she spoke, Belle had reached the first level of the control room, and was poking around. She found another portrait of Cora, older now but still retaining that steely glint in her eye. Belle shivered and moved on. A few portals later, she reached the upper levels of the control room.

As she stepped through the sliding doors, an old voice greeted her.

"Hello," said REGiNA.

"I'd given up hope of ever finding you," Belle replied drily.

REGiNA ignored that. "Say," she said with false calm (seeing as she was a potato, Belle had given up mentally capitalizing the AI's pronouns), "you're good at murder."

"Not really," said Belle.

Again, REGiNA continued as if she hadn't heard. "Murder this – _ow_ – bird for me, will you? _Ow_."

Belle considered the potato in the bird's nest, pausing out of spite as the bird gave the tuber another peck. "How about a please?"

"Oh, don't be rid- _ow. _Please."

Belle rapped on the glass, startling the bird. Cawing indignantly, it flapped away. She entered the room and stood over REGiNA. "Give me a good reason not to leave you here." In truth, Belle wasn't sure she had the heart to leave the AI here, but REGiNA didn't need to know that.

"That spineless excuse for an android doesn't know how to run my facility. His processors just aren't designed to handle the sheer amount of information stored in my chassis. Eventually, it'll overload him. I wouldn't honestly care if he burned himself out, except if he crashes, the facility crashes with him. I only just got the reactor cores stabilized, and if he breaks the system, all that hard work will fall right apart and trigger a severe instantaneous destabilization. In layman's terms, everything explodes. You can't leave me here because you need me. If I'm not plugged back in, we _all_ die."

Belle narrowed her eyes. "And how do I know you're not lying?"

"This potato only generates 1.1 volts of electricity," she muttered. "I don't have the energy to lie."

Just as Belle was considering this, the entire facility around her shuddered.

"If you help me I'll let you go," REGiNA added, unable to hide the note of desperation in her voice. "No tricks. Just a lift straight to the top."

Belle shrugged. "Fair enough." She jabbed the portal gun forward, spearing the potato on one of the gun's prongs.

"_You stabbed me_!" she shrieked. "_You psychopaaAoohwhOAH._" There was an alarmed pause. "The gun must be magnesium," she finally said. "I think I'm putting out an extra half a volt."

"Congrats," Belle said.

REGiNA had been weighing down a button, and when Belle had lifted her off it activated a long, narrow lift out on the main floor. As she made her way towards it, REGiNA said, "For the record, just because we have to work together does not mean we're friends."

"I agree," Belle replied.

"Good."

"Good."

The elevator had risen to the top, and Belle used a couple of well placed portals to fling them onto it. With the way Belle had set them, they ended up flipping around as they went through the portal, the pull of gravity on them switching. Belle landed expertly on the catwalk.

"I think I'm going to be sick," REGiNA said.

"You're a potato."

"I've decided I don't like flying."

"That's a shame. Because I do," Belle said with relish as she stepped through an emancipation grid into the next elevator, "and we're probably going to be doing a lot of it."

"I hate this quest already."


	7. The Reunion

Chapter Six  
The Reunion

_Enrichment Sphere 04_

"_The testing area is just up ahead,_" said Cora. "_I need not remind you, the quicker you complete this test, the quicker you will receive your payment._"

"I-" REGiNA began. "I… know…"

"_Regina, are the compensation vouchers ready?_"

"_Yes, mother_," REGiNA intoned in sync with the Regina on the recording. "W-wait, what, why did I-" REGiNA fizzled out, her wattage unable to sustain her panic.

Belle froze in the middle of the test chamber floor. The recorded Regina sounded older now, sounded more like the AI. And REGiNA's seemingly reflexive response to Cora… it had to be programming. If the AI had been based off Cora's daughter, perhaps she reacted to things the same as the original Regina. And yet…

Belle shoved the uneasy feeling aside. There were more pressing matters at hand. For example, the test chamber.

There was a new gel, similar in consistency as the Repulsion Gel, but bright orange. She went over to the spot it had splashed to the floor when she released it, and prodded at it with her toe. The gel made a zooming sound and her foot sped away from her, and she went sprawling backwards. "Oh, god," she groaned from the floor, the tumble reawakening the pains she'd so far been able to ignore. She took a few deep breaths, then slowly eased upright and onto her feet. "Okay," she said, exhaling heavily. "It's slippery."

She looked around, taking note of the ramp that led up off the edge of the test chamber floor. And what an edge, she realized as she peered over it. It was another of those pesky bottomless drops. She went back and did another experimental skid over the orange gel.

Alright. It was time to get speedy.

The orange gel, she decided, was almost as much fun as the Repulsion Gel. She wished Aperture wasn't so dangerous, if only so that she could enjoy herself properly without having to worry about dying a horrible death.

When she passed through the Emancipation Grid at the exit of the test chamber, REGiNA flickered back online. "Okay," she said shakily. "Emotional outbursts take more than 1.6 watts of energy. That's good to know."

"Are you alright?" Belle asked, surprised to find herself legitimately concerned for the AI.

"Fine," she replied, a little too quickly. "What's important now is that we get out of this dump and get me back into my old body."

"If you say so," Belle said doubtfully.

"I do say so."

Belle placed a few more portals, and they ended up in a small office. There was a large portrait on the wall, depicting two people this time. One was Cora, and the other…

"That's _me_," said REGiNA, her voice numb with shock. "That's me… and that other woman, she looks so familiar…"

"Her name's Cora," Belle said. "I've been listening to pre-recorded messages from her all throughout the facility. I think that when you were built, they based you off her daughter, who was also named Regina."

"Oh," REGiNA said. She didn't seem to quite know how to handle this. "Well… I suppose that would explain it…"

But the doubt in her voice brought Belle's previous unease coiling back.

"We need to get moving," REGiNA suddenly said, her sharp tone jerking Belle out of her reverie. "We've still got a facility to save."

* * *

_Enrichment Sphere 05_

Belle decided that using Repulsion Gel and the orange gel in combination was the most fun she'd ever had. REGiNA begged to differ.

"You're going too fast-"

"-look out for-"

"I can't watch-"

"-we're going to die-"

Belle found a solid place to land and shook the portal gun. "You need to calm down. You've watched me run hundreds of tests – you know that I'm good at this. So just chill, okay?"

"Watching someone run tests is different from actually _running_ tests."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Look who just joined the hypocrite club."

"I'd feel a lot better if I weren't a potato on a stick."

"I'm sure you would. Listen, I'm trusting you to let me go once all of this is done, so you're going to have to trust me to get us through this alive. Alright?"

REGiNA didn't respond, so Belle shook the gun again. "_Alright_?"

"Alright, fine!" REGiNA snapped.

Belle relaxed and smiled. "See now, was that so hard?"

"Yes," REGiNA grumbled. "It was."

* * *

They ended up in another exit hall, again without a working elevator. Cora's disdainful voice began to play over the speakers as Belle began to search for another way out.

"_Thank you for participating in Aperture Science's propulsion gel tests_," she said as if she couldn't believe she was thanking the people the message was directed at. "_I understand that sixty dollars is an unprecedented windfall for citizens such as yourself, so don't spend it all on… whatever it is you buy. The door is that way._"

Belle snorted as she made her way to a catwalk. "She's getting nasty."

REGiNA didn't respond, and Belle paused. "You okay in there?"

"Fine," the AI murmured.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm just…" REGiNA hesitated. "This is all so strange. I can't help but wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Belle began to walk along the catwalk, passing through another Emancipation Grid.

"Nothing. Just wonder in general."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Just so we're clear, being a team means we, y'know, work together. As in, share important information with each other."

"There's nothing I know that you don't," REGiNA snapped.

Belle smiled mirthlessly. "You're not very good at teamwork, are you."

"I've never had a reason to be," was the haughty reply.

"Well, now you do. So get used to it."

REGiNA fell into a sullen silence.

Belle looked around the new space. In front of her was a sign with an arrow to the right, pointing her towards Pump Station Gamma. On the wall in the indicated direction, giant numbers revealed that they were now in 1982. They'd certainly come a long way. To the right of the numbers was a platform in front of a door that was labeled _Gamma_. She portaled her way up, but paused before going through the door, taking a moment to soak in the scenery.

"Did you know this facility was so big?" she asked REGiNA.

"Kind of," REGiNA said. "I know that my part of the facility is huge, and I knew there was a basement section, but it was sealed off and even I didn't have access to it. But that it was this extensive? I had no idea."

Something came to Belle out of the blue. "What's your first memory?"

"What kind of question is _that_?"

Suddenly, it felt like one of the most important things in the world. "Please, just answer it."

"I…" Her yellow light flickered. "It's… dark? No, I'm…" The light flickered more rapidly, and her voice crackled. "It huRtS!" Her voice rose in pitch, sputtered, and cut out. The light went dark.

"REGiNA?" Belle asked in alarm. "REGiNA!"

Nothing.

Belle's veins felt like ice. There was something incredibly wrong here, wrong even by Aperture's standards. She swallowed her disquiet. There wasn't anything she could do right now except keep moving forward.

She turned and went through the door. As she passed through the Emancipation Grid beyond, REGiNA flickered back online. "What happened?"

"I dunno," Belle said grimly. "You tell me."

"Wait," REGiNA said. "How did we get here? Weren't we just in the exit hall?"

Belle froze. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" REGiNA asked irritably. "What's going on here?"

Belle licked her lips, swallowed. "Nothing," she replied hoarsely. "You just shorted out for a bit."

"Oh," REGiNA said. "This potato body is really inconvenient."

"Yeah," Belle agreed absently.

"So, are we continuing, or what?"

Belle shook herself. "Sorry, just thinking. Let's go." She followed a path that led her into a control room with three switches, one blue for Repulsion Gel, one orange for Propulsion Gel, and a third white one for something she didn't know. Once she flipped all three, the pipes in the room beyond pumped into life. However, they weren't sealed properly anymore, and three different kinds of gels splashed around the room, most notably a geyser of an unfamiliar white gel.

The switches had also activated a series of stomp-y things along the path she'd previously taken. She portaled to the other side rather than risk being flattened, and took a good look at the room. Blue gel was dripping out of one pipe, but the flow of white was much heavier and coated most of the floor in front of her. Cautiously approaching it, she first tried prodding at it with her toe, then stepping onto it. She jumped a couple of times, but the gel didn't seem to react to anything. Biting her lip, she looked around at the floor. It was made of material that portals couldn't be placed on. Just to make sure, she shot the portal gun at it. Sure enough, it didn't work. Then she looked back to the patch of white gel and shot at it.

A portal opened. She grinned.

With the help of the spilled gels, she made it up to the second level and past another row of stompers. There was a small room with a door, and on the wall was a poster. She examined it. It was about creating robots to become part of the staff, and at the bottom was written _Volunteer For Testing Today!_ An undefined sort of apprehension niggled at the back of her mind. She turned away and hurried out the door.

There was another gap she had to fling herself across despite REGiNA's protests, and then they found themselves another office. Cora's voice began again, but this time it was scratchy, hoarse. Belle stopped to listen.

"_Welcome to the Enrichment Center_." She paused to cough. "_Since making testing mandatory for all employees, the quality of test subjects have risen. Unfortunately, employee retention has not._" She coughed again and continued, almost wearily. "_Though our accountants advised against it, in an attempt to bring Aperture back to some of its former glory, I have purchased a large amount of moon rocks, which we have discovered are an excellent portal conductor. We converted the rocks to gel, but unfortunately it seems powdered moon rocks are highly toxic._" Another bout of racking coughs. "_I may have succumbed to illness, but I am still determined to run this facility. Aperture will survive. Because of my declining health, an idea came to me. We can store all sorts of data on disk. What is the human mind but a compilation of data and electricity? Since I came up with this, I've had a crack team of scientists researching brain mapping and artificial intelligence, something we should have looked into thirty years ago._" A rattling inhalation. "_If I pass on before I can be mapped into the facility's mainframe, I want my daughter Regina to take my place. She's become a backbone of this facility, and no one will do a better job than her. She'll object, but I want you to force her if you have to. It's what's best for her._" More coughing, and she finished, nearly sounding defeated. "_Testing has concluded for the day. Everyone back to their desks._"

Belle's head spun, and she stumbled to a nearby chair and sank into it. She felt ill. So this was the truth. Something deep inside her was unsurprised, as if she'd known in her gut that this was coming.

That didn't stop her from feeling like she was going to be sick. She put the portal gun down on the desk beside her and buried her face in her hands.

After a moment, she took a few deep breaths and looked over at REGiNA. The yellow light was on, but the AI was silent. "Are you alright?" Belle asked quietly.

"Peachy," REGiNA suddenly snarled, the yellow light brightening in fury. "How do you think I am? I just learned that not only that I was once human, but that my own mother stuffed me in a computer, probably against my will!" The light dimmed again, almost going out.

Not knowing what else to do, feeling awkward and at a loss, she gently patted the potato. She searched for something to say, but nothing came. They sat in silence for a long while.

"What do I do now?" REGiNA almost whispered.

Belle looked out the window at the huge, hazy space of the facility beyond, and she hardened her resolve. "We do the job in front of us," she said determinedly. "We get back into the main facility, we put you back in your body, we save Aperture. Existential crises can come later, when our lives aren't in immediate danger."

Slowly, the yellow light returned to its normal luminosity. "You're right," REGiNA said. "As much as it pains me to admit it. That coward's got a beating coming to him."

At the mention of Rumpelstiltskin, she felt like the world tilted around her. She found herself thinking of the little things he did that were inconsistent with machinery. He seemed to breathe on reflex even though he didn't need air. He blushed. When she touched him, he was warm. Before, she'd just taken it in stride, hadn't even noticed. In light of this new information, however…

Her nausea returned with a vengeance, and she doubled over, fighting down the urge to vomit. How many people? How many people had Aperture taken apart and put back together? REGiNA had said that the scientists were constantly creating personality cores, and Rumpel was a personality core.

_How many?_

"What's the matter with you?" REGiNA's voice cut into her thoughts. "Didn't we just agree to save existential crises for later?"

Belle straightened up, taking deep breaths. "Right," she said. "Right." She picked up the portal gun. "Let's go."

On their way out of the office, they passed another portrait of Cora, older now, her face drawn. There were more posters about how robots made better employees and encouraged people to volunteer. They had been bemusing before, but now they were sinister.

They left the office and got into another elevator. It was back to testing

She wasn't sure why, but she liked getting the gel to cover every inch of the area that she could. If REGiNA hadn't snapped at her to hurry it up, Belle probably would have taken longer than strictly necessary to solve the test.

"There's something wrong with you," REGiNA muttered as they exited the testing area.

"You're one to talk," Belle retorted as she examined the elevator shaft they found themselves in. After a series of portals that involved a lot of falling, they ended up at the top, in front of a door. Belle pushed it open and stepped through.

There were more portals and more gels and another shaft to climb and another bulkhead to open, and Belle wondered if they would ever make it out of here. She was sore and tired and hungry, and all she wanted was a good nap. But she couldn't stop, wouldn't let herself stop, because she knew that if she did, she wouldn't be able to get up again.

When she opened the bulkhead, pipes descended through the opening and connected with the gel-supplying pipes. An elevator slowly began to lower itself.

"Hey, look!" REGiNA suddenly said. Belle looked around and saw a poster on the wall about paradoxes. "No AI can resist thinking about a paradox," REGiNA said. "Once we get to the top, I'll shut myself off for a moment, you say one of these, and while he's busy trying to work it out, we find him and unplug him!"

Belle eyed the sign doubtfully. It seemed too easy. "If you say so."

By now the elevator was almost at the bottom, and Belle hurried to meet it. As it rose back up with them on it, Belle asked, "Are you sure that it'll work?"

"Absolutely," REGiNA replied.

Funnily enough, that did little to assure Belle. The elevator stopped, and she stepped off of it. They seemed to be between the top of the old facility and the bottom of the new. There was a staircase, and Belle followed it to a waiting elevator, this one with the polished characteristics of the Aperture Belle was familiar with. As she stepped into it, REGiNA admitted, "No, not really."

"That's what I thought."


End file.
